no labels can define us
by beyond-the-twilight
Summary: "It's sad how well he knows her considering the fact that she was never really his" - Puck/Rachel relationship. Rated T for language


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A/N: I'm supposed to be working through my huge work-load of assignments and studying, but my brain is consumed with Glee - particularly Rachel/Puck (the amazing Puckleberry), so I'm skipping work and just writing.

**If you guys have anything you want written, let me know in a review or a PM and I'd be happy to write it for you. Or if you have a prompt, I'm happy to do that too! **

**Comments are love :)**

First things first – before anything else unfolds – you need to know that no matter what happens, no matter what anyone thinks, Noah "Puck" Puckerman is still a fucking bad-ass stud who will throw anyone who looks at him the wrong way into a dumpster (except girls, and like, fat kids that are too hard to life. Oh, and Artie, because even he has boundaries).

It's ironic that the girl who made him into such a stud (she was the only reason he created the slushy facial) is the one who has unknowingly turned him into a stupid, pansy mess.

Really, if he stops to think about it, he'd realize that it's all her fault. Every mistake in his life stems from something she's done, and the thing that really pisses him off is that she doesn't have to deal with any of it. In fact, she sits there looking all innocent and proper because she has no fucking clue just what she's done.

What annoys him even more is the fact that despite everything she's done, he still wants to be her friend (despite what he said on the bleachers that day) and maybe even more than that (she's a hot Jew, and if he had to pick anyone to be in a relationship with, it'd be her).

Even the first slushy facial was her fault.

* * *

She's wearing these curve hugging jeans and this top that isn't blue or purple, but some strange mix of the two and it's clinging to her like a second skin.

He's a year older than her, so it's his second year at McKinley High, and as the coolest guy on the football team, he takes it as his duty to welcome her to the school. The only problem is that she talks a lot (like, he introduces himself and she starts rambling on about some fucking fairy).

Eventually, when her mouth stops mouthing and he tunes back into the conversation (he's been imagining all the things she could do with that mouth), he decides that he'll ask her out.

"You wanna skip first period so we can make out in the janitors closet?"

Apparently, she's not interested in that offer, because her mouth drops open (really not helping) and her face blushes red (which is actually pretty hot) and she gets a pinched, offended look on her face. For a second, he wonders if she's into chicks, because no girl willingly turns down an encounter with the Puckusauras.

Then she starts rambling about how degrading the offer is and that she won't become known as a slut, despite how lovely his arms are. That's when he realizes that she finds him attractive.

"Come on baby"

When she puts her hands out and pushes him away, he gets angry. He literally sees red (he has slight anger issues) and he feels like this girl has just embarrassed him in front of everyone (even though no one's listening). So he pours the slushy he's still holding into her hair, smirking as it drips down her face and then down her top (that probably wasn't a good idea because now her top's wet and she looks even better).

She starts to splutter as a few of the closest jocks starts to applaud him. Without even thinking, he takes a bow, proud of his handiwork (he's the top of the social pyramid for a reason) and walks away, not even sparing a thought for the girl he's just completely shattered (he didn't even learn her name).

But really, he thinks as he walks towards Mike and Matt (who for some reason aren't laughing), it serves her right for turning down the Puckstar.

* * *

Slushy facials become a daily occurrence. Matt and Mike never laugh, and Finn has this constantly nervous look on his face, like he's shitting himself (he probably is – dude's terrified of getting in trouble), but the cheerleaders make up for the lack of enthusiasm his friends show. Brittany (the blonde ditzy one with the killer legs) doesn't seem to understand what's going on, but she smiles when her friends laugh. Quinn (the one that Finn has a huge crush on) heaps insults on the girl (RuPaul, man-hands) and this just encourages him.

It's Santana that takes the cake though. She's so fucking hot, and they make out on a regular basis, and have sex whenever either of them has an empty house, so it's her approval he really wants (they're not exclusive or anything, but he doesn't want her to cut him off). She laughs every time he slushies the girl and even starts buying the slushies, as well as banning anyone else from throwing the iced drinks on Rachel (Matt tells him her name after one particularly vicious slushy attack). Santana makes it into a game.

Puck loves games.

* * *

Santana dumps him because of his credit score, not that he gives a crap. They break up all the time, because neither of them likes relationships but they're too lazy to find someone new to fall into bed with.

But because Santana was the main encourager of the slushy attacks on Rachel, they slow down for a little while. The midget (who has freakishly long legs for her size) finally stops bringing a change of clothes to school, assuming that the attacks have stopped.

Then Quinn walks back into his life as Finn's girlfriend (she hasn't really been anywhere, he just hasn't noticed her for a while – too busy with Santana and cougars) and he realizes that dumping his drinks on unsuspecting people was a lot of fun.

Quinn's a royal bitch – probably even bitchier than Santana (the Latina is violent and threatening, whereas Quinn has this princess exterior that masks the fact she's manipulating everyone) and he thinks that's pretty cool.

He doesn't have feelings for her (really, he doesn't). He just thinks she's smoking hot, and really needs to lose the chastity belt. So he starts flirting with her, not really caring that it's a pretty low thing to do, considering the fact that his best friend is practically in love with the blonde.

After all, he's Puck, and he can do whatever the fuck he wants.

* * *

Finn joins glee club for some reason that Puck can't be bothered to find out. All he knows is that the douche has joined homo-explosion, which means he's officially a loser. Not even Puck can save him from the inevitable slushies that will hit him in the fact.

But then Finn's happy, like seriously happy, about the singing and the dancing and whatever other crap glee club does. It's not because of the music though. It's because Finn's got a giant crush on the midget that Puck's been throwing slushies on for a whole year. Finn's dating the captain of the cheerio's, yet he's still lusting after the loser that everyone hates.

There's a part of him that hates Finn because Rachel is his. He's been marking his territory for over a year now. No one is allowed to touch her, or throw crap on her – Rachel is his.

So when Quinn comes to his house one night, whining about feeling fat, he gives her wine coolers and because he's already drunk and pissed at Finn, he kisses her.

They have sex, and she cries afterwards, before trying to make him pray (fuck that, he's Jewish), and then leaving his house as soon as her clothes are on.

When the door slams behind her, he realizes the mistake he's just made. He's just slept with his best friend's girlfriend and he just knows that Finn's going to be annoyed at that.

So he tries to make it mean something.

Of course it wasn't a random fuck, he tells himself. I'm in love with Quinn, and I've loved her for longer than Finn ever did. But it doesn't work – the words sound fake, but he forces himself to keep practicing.

The biggest mistake in his life is Rachel Berry's fault.

* * *

He joins glee club as soon as he hears that Quinn's pregnant so that he can be close to his baby (and because he wants to piss Quinn off – he's furious that she didn't tell him herself).

Despite the fact that they sing all the fucking time, and that the whole club is full of losers, it's not actually that bad. Rachel has a killer voice and once he hears that, he realizes he can't throw slushies on her anymore. She's a person, and he's pretty sure she has feelings.

The rest of the club is scary though. There's Kurt (the gay kid he threw in the dumpsters) who throws his gay-ness in other people's faces (Puck's not homophobic, he just doesn't want to see Kurt lusting after Finn all the fucking time), and the black chick (who looks like she wants to kill him). There's the Asian goth girl (who pulls off the goth look way too well) and Artie (who should just man up and ask out the goth chick). Then there's Matt, Mike, Brittany, Santana, Quinn and Finn who are the only decent ones (although he has no idea why most of them are there).

Then there's Mr. Schuester who's in a league of his own. The dude's crazy. He picks really old songs and thinks he can rap (which he can't), and spends his time coming up with stupid assignments. Plus, he's acting like a dad to Finn which is really fucking odd (there must be rules against that kind of thing) and he seems intent on being "equal" (which really means: "I'll give you a solo but if anyone complains, I'll take it away from you and give it to someone else" – which usually happens to Rachel). Sue Sylvester's right about one thing, which is the fact that he has a stupid haircut. Really, does he have a blind hairdresser?

But he sings and he dances anyway (although no one realizes he's just mouthing the words because he can't be bothered to really sing) because he needs to be near Quinn.

He doesn't complain when Rachel's short skirts fly up during dance rehearsals either (although he does wonder where her jeans went) because he thinks that's his reward for joining the team.

At least with him onboard they have one awesome person.

* * *

He dates the midget for a week because she's hot, her voice is amazing and God tells him too. He chooses glee over football for her too, because the football team is crap, he's sick of sleeping with cougars and he actually really likes her. Plus, she has this way of making him believe in himself, which is actually pretty cool.

So, although he doesn't show it, he's pretty annoyed (upset) when she dumps him because she's in love with Finn, and assumes he's in love with Quinn.

He's not though. He's not even sure he _likes _Quinn. The only reason he stares at her is because of his baby growing inside her stomach.

Not that he can tell Rachel that.

* * *

Rachel tells Finn about the baby just before Sectionals, and although Finn is pissed at him (he's got the bruises to prove it), neither he or Quinn are mad at Rachel. She told the truth when everyone else was too afraid to, and in his books, that makes her alright.

So he sings his heart out at sectionals, happy that Finn showed up and saved the day because it made Rachel happy. He's not even upset that Finn wouldn't patch things up with him, because really, he did a shitty thing in sleeping with Quinn.

He sings his best just for Rachel though, because despite everything he's put her through, she's a fucking amazing person and he's truly amazed that there are people like her in the world.

He's even more amazed that people like her (beautiful, smart, funny – people with a future in front of them) are allowed to hang around with people like him (fucked-up idiots who have no hope of getting out of Lima).

* * *

Rachel and Finn start dating, which isn't a surprise to anyone, except maybe Quinn, who was still hoping that Finn would forgive her and magically want to be with her again.

What is a surprise is that Finn breaks up with Rachel.

Glee finds out when she sings some stupid song about giving him hell (although she does one heck of a job on it) and he's proud of her for growing some balls and standing up for herself.

When he finds out that Finn dumped Rachel so that he could go on a date with Brittany _and _Santana, he purposely seeks out the idiot and pushes him into a locker.

It's not because he has feelings for Rachel though. It's because...

He actually has no reason for doing what he did. He just knows that Rachel is a good person, and she didn't deserve what Finn did to her, not when she was the only one there for him after the whole baby-gate fiasco. He also knows that Finn is going to feel like crap when he realizes just what he lost.

Puck knows what it feels like to lose Rachel.

* * *

He actually thinks it might be his turn with the crazy midget (he means it kindly) because he never really got a proper chance. But then some douchebag from Vocal Adrenaline swoops her off her feet by singing (hello, he serenaded her first) and then transfers to McKinley High to "be with her".

All of glee knows that it's a lie, but none of them have the courage to confront Rachel about it, so they let her fall for the dude who treats her like shit.

Jesse St. Douche pressures her for sex (and he hears from Matt – who heard from Finn - that she's given in because it's "no big deal"), which is a low thing to do. A girl like Rachel needs someone to love her, not treat her like that. Finn's convinced that Rachel's no longer a virgin (which Matt kindly tells him during football training) but when Santana tells him that Finn slept with her and then lied to Rachel about it, he realizes that Rachel was probably lying.

It's sad how well he knows her considering the fact that she was never really his.

* * *

As soon as the glist goes up, he knows that it's Quinn's handiwork. The girl is getting seriously depressed, and considering the fact that Rachel's last and Quinn's avoiding everyone's eyes... well, it just makes sense.

When he sees the list on Rachel's locker, he takes it down because that girl has been through enough in her life – most of it inflicted by him – and if he has the opportunity to lighten her suffering, he's going to do it.

* * *

She asks him to film Run Joey Run and he agrees because he's a badass and she's looking at him with these eyes that are just begging him to agree.

Then he's in her bedroom, and her lips are red and full, and he really, really wants to kiss her because it's been a long time and he's missed her (he's done denying he has feelings for her now).

But she pulls away twice – stupid Jesse St. Douche is managing to fuck everything up and he's not even in the room – and he learns that she's the only girl that can pull that shit and still get him to do what she wants, because he stays and films with her (it's ironic considering the last time she turned him down, he poured frozen ice all over her).

So when he sees Jesse and Finn in the video, he's pretty pissed. He gets over it though (although he still puts a frown on his face) because his part is longer than Jesse's and Finn's _combined _and he's pretty sure that means something to Rachel, whose whole world is music.

So yeah, he's pretty happy with that.

* * *

Jesse St. Douche deserts their team, and trashes their choir room, so he and Finn get together and slash all of Vocal Adrenaline's tires. Finn's doing it for Rachel (dude's crazy in love with the midget) and he's doing it because no one gets away with that shit at McKinley High (and he's crazy in like with the midget).

They're forced to get a job to pay for the damage (that coach is a mega bitch) but he's got his best friend back, so it doesn't suck all that much (but it's still pretty bad because Sheets 'n' Things is stupid as fuck).

It was kind of worth it to see the look of happiness on Rachel's face, so when that look disappears because the douche (he's lost the right to first name basis) and his team smashed eggs on Rachel, he knows that he's going to punch the shit out of him. Mr. Schue orders him to sit down, but he's going to square the debt with the fuck-head later.

The musical revenge idea isn't that bad after all. Rachel looks smoking hot in her red shorts, and Vocal Adrenaline is practically pissing their pants.

(When Rachel's not looking, he takes a photo of her with his phone and sets it as his wallpaper).

* * *

Then Regionals happen, and Quinn has the baby, and they lose Regionals (like, they couldn't have done worse even if they had given the judges the finger and sung a song insulting them), and everything is a blur.

He's devastated that they've gotten rid of their baby, and when Quinn asks if he loves her, he says yes, even though he never really did, because this whole mess has got to mean something (it can't mean nothing, it just can't).

And when Shelby appears next to them, he just knows that she's going to adopt their baby, and he hates her. He hates her for being a shit mum to Rachel (no one should be able to pull that crap on such an amazing person) and he hates her because she gets to raise Beth.

When he finds out that Finn told Rachel he loved her, he asks Quinn to be his girlfriend because he can't sit around and watch the girl he likes (loves) be in love with Finn.

She says yes, and he plasters a smile on his face despite the fact that his heart is sinking deep into his chest.

* * *

Finn's a douche to Rachel again, and she comes running to him with tears on her cheek (it's really confusing because they weren't that close to begin with – he just defends her and worships her from afar).

"He slept with Santana and lied to me about it" she whispers

"I'm gonna kick his ass"

"It was before we were together", she explains, and then it suddenly makes sense. Rachel never slept with the douche (it makes him proud because he called this month's ago) but Finn did sleep with Santana, even though he said he didn't.

She sits on his couch for hours, and they watch Gossip Girl on DVD (it's not his; his mum loves the show). Eventually, she stands up to leave and he walks her to the door.

"I'm sure Finn's sorry about Santana, Rach", he says quietly as she slips into her jacket. He has no idea why he's defending his friend instead of hitting on Rachel. Being around her just makes him want to be a better person.

"I know he is. It just hurts because I pictured us losing our virginity to each other, but he traded something that's supposed to be meaningful for a night of nothing with Santana", she whispered as she darts out of the front door and dashes into her car. "Thanks Noah", she calls out of the window.

He doesn't yell that it was a bad decision on Finn's part (even though it was) and he doesn't yell that he likes her (even though he really does).

Instead, he walks back to the couch, and spends the rest of the night watching Gossip Girl (he breaks up with Quinn the next day).

* * *

Rachel and Finn get back together but it doesn't last for long. Rachel overhears Finn telling Quinn that he has feelings for her, and she doesn't want to be his second choice. She was his second choice for a long time because he couldn't leave a pregnant Quinn but she's not going to tolerate it anymore.

As soon as she hears, she storms up to him, interrupting his conversation with Quinn, and tells him that he's an asshole (Puck's been rubbing off on her) that deserves to spend the rest of his life with Quinn, before telling the blonde that she's a desperate cow (she's always had a flair for the dramatics).

Then she goes running straight to Puck, and begs him to get her drunk (it takes about ten minutes before he agrees because Rachel is tiny and he's terrified that she might get alcohol poisoning or something).

He does get her drunk though, and she's a happy and horny drunk (which is literally hell on earth, because he's already having enough trouble resisting her).

"You're my best friend Noah", she slurs before trying to put her tongue into his mouth. "I love you lots", she sings before attempting to get her hand past his waistband. She finally passes out, so he texts her dads and tells them that she'll be spending the night at Tina's (a little lie never hurt anyone) before driving her to his house and putting her in his bed.

She looks like she belongs there, and he never wants her to leave his bed again.

* * *

Finn and Quinn don't get back together. Quinn realized that Rachel was right. Rachel had waited her turn for Finn, trying to support both sides of the couple through everything, and the brunette deserved the same courtesy from Quinn.

The blonde started dating Mike after a few months, and she had never been happier – they shared a love of baseball, dancing and music, and because Mike was able to keep up with her (intellectually and emotionally), she grew less controlling and more relaxed (which probably also had something to do with the fact that her social rating was slowly rising).

Artie and Tina finally got their acts together and were rarely seen apart, unless they were triple-dating with Mercedes and Matt (which seemed fucking weird at first but actually made sense) and Kurt and his boyfriend Sam (Kurt had finally got over Finn and as long as he and Sam didn't make out publically, it was all good).

Finn tried to get Rachel back but she stayed firm, and he eventually started dating the newest girl to join the glee club: Taylor. She had a pretty decent voice but she couldn't dance for shit, so she and Finn were pretty decently matched in that respect.

The biggest shocker was Brittany and Santana who finally confirmed that they were in fact a couple. Brittany had a huge smile on her face, and her pinky was firmly interlocked with Santana's, who actually looked happy (she wasn't smiling like Brittany but there was a light in her eyes that none of them had ever seen before).

With the rest of glee paired off, he and Rachel started spending even more time together. Quinn sent smiles their way whenever she thought they weren't looking (she did a really shit job at it – he caught her every time) and Brittany was practically dancing with excitement. Santana had even told him to not hurt Rachel or he'd have her to deal with.

Everyone else was already onboard with "Puckleberry" (as Kurt had nicknamed them). Everyone except Rachel.

* * *

"Rach, I like being friends with you and all, cause your pretty awesome and you get me in a way that no one else really does, but I'd kinda like to be more", he said for the fifteenth time that day. He was standing outside of the choir room, waiting for practice to start.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness. I would know", a voice behind him teased.

"Fuck. How much did you hear?"

"Enough. You could just ask the special girl out Noah. She'd be lucky to have you", Rachel said softly as she came to stand next to him. "Is it anyone I know?"

"Are you really that dense?" he asked, a frown stretching across his face as he saw Rachel's mouth drop open in shock. "I like you Rach. Have done for a long time – since that week we dated... probably a bit before that... but there's been guy after guy getting in the way"

She didn't say anything but her arms were wrapped tight around his waist within two seconds, and less than a second after that, her lips were pressed against his.

It's nothing like the last time. This time, it's deep and emotional, and he can feel a lot of shit that he never thought was possible.

He kind of likes it (likes it a lot actually).

* * *

They don't put labels on their relationship. They make-out all the time and they hold hands walking through McKinley High and everyone knows that Rachel Berry belongs to Puck. Girls slowly get the hint that Puck's off the market as well, but despite all that, they never make it official.

She kind of likes the fact that she hasn't planned everything – that there's no set night for dates, or no joint calendars. He likes the fact that's she's so obviously his, but that they don't have to have the relationship talk that will inevitably screw things up.

* * *

Throughout high school they never define what they are to each other. Rachel will refer to him as Noah ("have you met my friend Noah?", or "this is Noah, the boy I'm seeing") and Puck just says whatever the hell he wants ("Ma, this is Rachel. I like her, so leave her the fuck alone").

Santana tells Puck to man up and ask Rachel to be his girlfriend but he doesn't. Quinn begs Rachel to ask Puck to be her boyfriend because the situation is getting out of hand.

They get through high school together which is an amazing achievement, considering the fact that he finished a year before her (and the fact that Finn and Taylor broke up, Quinn and Mike didn't make it past six months, Mercedes practically destroyed Matt in their break-up... in fact, only Kurt and Sam, Tina and Artie and Brittany and Santana are still going strong).

He does a year at Lima Community College until she graduates high school and they both head to New York. He's transferring to NYU, and she's going to attend Julliard, which has been her dream for-fucking-ever (Quinn moves to LA, with Kurt, Sam and Mercedes, Santana and Brittany become cheerleaders for some huge football team and spend their days travelling the country, Tina and Artie stay in Lima, Mike, Matt and Finn get a scholarship to the state university).

When they get there, they move in together, even though they still haven't used the terms boyfriend or girlfriend. It's a mess of a relationship by anyone else's standards but to them, it's perfect, and they don't want it any other way.

* * *

When Rachel graduates Julliard, she lands a part in off-off Broadway, then a chorus in off-Broadway, then a lead in off-Broadway, before a chorus on Broadway, then a supporting role...

When she gets the news that she's going to be the lead in the revival of Wicked, she's so excited she can't sit still. She eventually falls asleep on the couch, and when she wakes up, she can hear Noah on the phone.

"My girlfriend just got a lead in a Broadway production. Suck on that fucker"

Ignoring his crass language, she jumps off the couch and throws herself at him, smothering him with kisses. "Chill the fuck out Rach, I'm on the phone", he says sternly, but can't hide the smile that's threatening to bloom.

"You just called me your girlfriend"

"Well, that's what you are right?" he asks as he hangs up the phone, ignoring the fact that he was in the middle of a conversation just a second ago.

"If you want me to be", she replies shyly.

"Course I do. I fucking love you"

"I love you too!" she squeals.

"Course you do. I'm a fucking stud", he teases but she can tell he's happy, because his smile is just as big as hers. "Plus, I'm the best boyfriend ever"

* * *

Their story isn't perfect – not by a long shot. She can be too driven, her energy and enthusiasm turns into freakishly annoying hyperactivity which has the potential to drive him insane. He can be too laidback, his casual attitude and carefree take on life combining to make is seem like he doesn't give a crap about anything.

Their story is complex. His daughter is being raised by her mother, and he still receives photos of Beth monthly, even though Shelby flat out refuses to keep in contact with her own daughter.

But their story is just that. It's theirs, and they know that there will never be anything more passionate or all-consuming because it was a long time coming.

And sometimes, having a story that's yours is the most important thing. Having a story that defines a part of you no one else knows about can be the most amazing thing in the world.


End file.
